Police and nature experts last week took possession of two male tigers belonging to a circus in Bree, Limburg province. Mayor Jaak Gabriels decided to intervene after complaints that the accommodation of Tango and Ginger was unsuitable and unsafe; some bars on the cages were reported to be held in place with wire, and one of the tigers was able to reach through the bars and injure another. The two tigers are now in separate cages at the Nature Help Centre in Opglabbeek.

Potato growers are facing the loss of massive amounts of this year’s crop because an unusually warm autumn has caused potatoes to begin sprouting much earlier than normal. The problem affects crops not being kept in climate-controlled storage. In a normal year, sprouting would only begin in about February or March, when most of the harvest has been sold. This year, potatoes were taken from the ground in August instead of September because of the summer drought. Then, warm temperatures in September and October advanced the process.

Prison officers are to be equipped with baton, handcuffs and protective clothing, including a helmet, following strike action taken in response to violence in prisons. In high-security wings in Lantin and Bruges, they will also be issued pepper spray. “The aim is to better prepare prison staff for possible aggression,” a spokesman for the prisons authority said. Last week, the first courses in conflict management began in the two prisons.

Baggage handlers at Brussels and Ostend airports have begun a campaign to protest overloaded suitcases, which lead to back pain and other problems. Transport union BTB calculated that one handler deals with 150 cases per flight, each weighing 15 to 20 kilograms, a daily total of 10 tonnes. The union is asking passengers to pack less and to spread it out among more than one suitcase.